GENERAL 1. Title - The Book Thief 2. Author - Markus Zusak 3. Date of Original Publication - 2005 4. Novel Type - Historical Fiction STRUCTURE 1. Point of View - First person limited and third-person omniscient 2. Relationship to meaning - As a metaphysical and ubiquitous being who is able to provide an intimate yet well-informed recount of various experiences undergone by several characters, Death’s role as the narrator allows the novel to depict both virtues and vices of humanity in the most compelling manner. 3. Plot Structure a. Exposition - Death introduces himself and describes the instance when young Liesel Meminger saw her dead brother in her mother’s arms. Following this event, Liesel is sent to live with her foster parents Hans and Rosa Hubermann. b. Inciting Incident - Upon learning that Hitler is the principal cause of her family’s suffering, Liesel steals a book from a bonfire of banned books. c. Events contributing to rising action - The Hubermanns begin harboring a Jew named Max Vandenburg at their house basement. Liesel and Max begin bonding. d. Climax (Crisis/turning point) - Hans Hubermann gives a bread to a Jewish prisoner out of sympathy and is whipped by a Nazi officer who writes down his name. Fearing that his house would be raided, Hans sends Max away for his safety as well as those of his household. e. Events contributing to falling action - Hans is drafted into the army. Liesel reads to people in the bomb shelter during air raids and continues
The Nazi were looking in people houses to find if people where helping the Jews but Liesel saves Max by tell her parents that the Nazi where coming. Liesel steal a book from the major house again and someone found out Ilsa found out and left a note saying she knows about the thievery and that it is okay for Liesel to take the books, but that she should come to the front door next time. A bunch of Jews were walking in the street of Molching and Hans see an old man fall and Hans give them food and gets beat up because people said that Hans was a Jew lover. Hans got accepted to be in the Nazi Party his job is Special Air Raid Unit. They remain above ground during an air raid to clean up and collect the dead bodies. Hans broke his leg and came back to his family. A bunch of Jews came on the street of Molching but this time max was in the group and Liesel and Max get beat up for talking together. Liesel goes back to the mayor house and shreds a book and leaves a note saying I’m not coming back. Ilsa give a little black book to Liesel telling her to write her own book and she does the title of the book was “The Book Thief”. Liesel few months later was in a basement editing her book but then the book gets picked up and thrown to the garbage and somebody picked
The second portion of the book introduced us to the part of Liesel’s life in which Max Vandenburg became part of the Hubermann family. After Max arrived at the end of the first section, Viktor Chemmel and Franz Deutscher were introduced as well. At first, Max had an awkward relationship with the Hubermanns, but he and Liesel eventually became united by their shared love of words. Nevertheless, the issue of concealing Max from the Nazis became a problem for Liesel’s family, especially when Max fell ill, which is another major trouble that the Hubermanns were forced to endure. Another conflict occurred when Ilsa Hermann could not afford to pay Rosa to work anymore; Liesel
The tone of the narrator, Death, is intimate throughout the book. When he first sees Liesel, he becomes interesting in her as he takes away her brother’s soul. Events lead him into interacting with many people in Liesel’s life and the war allows him to see her often, this attraction is encompassed on the last few words of the book, “I am haunted by humans” ( Zusak 550). Death, who seems to haunt millions of people around the world, is haunted by humans. It is ironic but it shows the beauty that is humans. This desire to see Liesel, to be haunted by her, leads to a caring tone, but this does not mean that Death is basis in his telling of the story. Death tries to forget Liesel but periodically, he goes to check. His being haunted does not only apply to Liesel, he is able to recall the deaths of many other humans that had captured his eye or in someway is connected to Liesel. There is a fondness when Death thinks of humans and a slight dislike but he craves to see certain ones and to interact with them. Humans are so interesting, complex, and eye catching that Death wishes to watch over some of
Death is evident all through the book. It’s obvious this book is about death. But it’s the different ways that each character deals with death that the author is trying to get across. He’s saying that we all deal with death and our own grief differently. Some in bad ways and some in
Liesel's biological parents were Communists, a group despised by the Nazis. Thus, they were killed. However, despite knowing their inevitable fate, her parents made sure to keep Liesel alive by sending her to another family within Germany: the Hubermann family. There, Liesel slowly adapted to life. She learned to read and write German and even made a loyal friend, Rudy Steiner. However, these events were only minor steps leading up to the turning point in the story: Max Vandenberg’s arrival . Max was a Jew, a trait - like being a Communist - that was despised by the Nazis, but during the previous World War, his father had saved Hans Hubermann’s life. Consequently, Hans (Liesel’s father) vowed to secretly care for Max. The rest of the story revolved around saving
Rising Action: Ulrich strayed away from his foresters and then finally finds the person he was hunting, Georg Znaeym, the current head of the Znaeym family.
In conclusion, by choosing death as the narrator Markus Zusak provides the reader with the information that Liesel does not know and death knows but also describes Liesel, her life and how she feels about the things that are happening in her life. Also, by choosing death as the narrator it allows Zusak to describe the other characters and their thoughts which is effective because it does not create confusion and makes the reader eager to read more. For example, “AN ATTRIBUTIVE OF ROSA HUBERMANN She was a good woman for a crisis”. This is written in bold which means that it has been used as a distraction and to give information about the characters who death is talking about and it also provides the reader with the opinion of
First of all, Hans Hubermann feels immense guilt for the death of his friend Erik Vandenburg. When Liesel's foster father, Hans Hubermann, was a young man The Great War broke out. He
Liesel Meminger went through several crucial events that shaped her life and made her a stronger person. The first crucial event Liesel experienced was being taken away from her mother. Being taken from her mother led her to Molching, Germany where she underwent many other imperative events. After Liesel was taken away from her mother, she was driven to her new foster family’s home on 33 Himmel Street. In Molching, Liesel learned how to read and write. Liesel befriended many people in Molching that help shape her life such as Rudy Steiner who served as a good friend to Liesel, Hans Huberman who taught Liesel how to read, Rosa Huberman who taught Liesel basic chores, Max Vanderburg who helped to teach Liesel how to love everyone, and Ilsa Hermann
Life during the 1940’s was hard for the entire world. As Germany caused suffering and loss in multiple other countries, the people of Germany suffered as well. The Book Thief follows the story of a German girl named Liesel, who was forced to be taken away from her family at a young age. She then becomes the foster daughter of Rosa and Hans Hubermann, whose children have grown up and left. Liesel struggles to understand why her mother had left her, and why Hitler was causing all of the bad things in her life to happen. In The Book Thief, Markus Zusak uses the theme of loss to show how it can bring people closer together.
Liesel and her brother are travelling by train to Munich with their mother to be given to their foster parents when she notices her brother is sideways and dead. After Werner’s funeral, Liesel, overcome with shock and
Hans gives humanity to someone stripped of their humanity when he gives bread to a jew, paints over graffiti, and hides Max. The Jews are being paraded through the town of Molching on
Liesel loves to read and it doesn't take her long to withhold her title as Book Thief. She starts with The Grave Digger’s Handbook which is the book she picks up after her brother’s death. Hans teachers her to read and painted her a “chalkboard” in the basement so that she can write down the new words she has learned. There ends up being a town “parade” which is really a book burning event where Hitler and the Nazis are commemorated, during this time Germany was looking towards invading new countries. Liesel is handed a book and pressured to throw it into the fire, to which she eventually does so. However, once the fire has been put out and everyone has gone home, she notices a book that is only slightly charred, not destroyed by the fire and picks it up. A car drives by and a woman, who is Ilsa Herman, the mayor’s wife, sees her take the book, but Liesel hides it under her coat and runs away quickly back home.
I believe the role of death will be like a narrator throughout the book. You can tell this by how the story is written, as how the voice of death says he will see the girl, Liesel Meminger, later. This hints that the voice of death is telling the interesting story of Liesel through the narrator point of view. For example, "That's the sort of thing I'll never know or comprehend--- what humans are capable of." (Zusak 25) This is showing that death is telling his or her thoughts, sharing what she saw. Where if Liesel had been telling the story, she would of written it in first person. Death is also suggested narrating the story, by the excerpts that are bolded throughout the book. Lastly, death seems to be a shadow around Liesel, because during
ELIC begins with attending the funeral of Oskar’s father, with the father passing after the events of 9/11. The event